I am a professional writer, editor, and consultant, with more than 20 books published under another name. I divide my time among Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S. I enjoy stories that are realistic enough that they might have happened and fanciful enough that they might not have. I value communication, adventure, exploration, passion, and love.

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The fact that one of the protagonists is a strong, smart, educated, sexy woman is not what I like best about Rock My Socks Off (Jeremy Edwards, Xcite Books, 2010). I’m a strong, smart, educated, sexy woman, and I know plenty of others. Yet some authors seem blown away by the presence of these women in their own books. I read one not too long ago by an author so famous I’m not going to mention his name here in case I piss off his legion of fans. Practically from page 1 we heard that his protagonist woman was beautiful—and yet smart! Oh my gosh! A few pages later, we learned that while she was smart, she was also… very beautiful! And he kept that up throughout the entire book. In fact, this woman was only able to defeat the Evil Bad Guy because the EBG was not prepared for the fact that she was so smart—because she was so beautiful!! I cannot believe the author actually knew any strong, smart, educated, sexy women, because if he had, they would have strangled him dead to death.

Jeremy Edwards must actually know some strong, smart, educated, sexy women, because his Normandie (née Brittany, but in her disgust at having been stuck with such a trendy name explains that she took the next French province over) is, well, strong, smart, educated, and sexy; and this is perfectly natural. Her boyfriend Jacob is no slouch, but Normandie is better-educated and in a higher-level job. And what makes that so enchanting to me is precisely the author’s not making a big deal of it. So that is Good Point Number One (there will be four, if you’re the sort who likes to keep track of these things, and GP#3 was what I liked best about this book).

Good Point Number Two is that I see why Normandie and Jacob like each other. You know? And it’s not just because they’re too sexy for their pages. Lots of characters in erotic romances have luscious bosoms and throbbing members (not on the same character) (usually), so I want to know what about the characters’ personalities attracts them to each other. These are two wise-cracking, affectionate smart-asses. They’re a good match, and it’s a pleasure to watch them interact. Their sex is believable (and hot) because their attraction is believable.

Now, these two characters have a lot of sex. I mean… they have a lot of sex. From their first encounter, they have sex every few pages. And yet I’m going to say that Good Point Number Three is the plot. If you took out all of the sex, you’d still have a great story (although you’d also have a much shorter book!). It’s the sort of plot you often see called a “romp”—fast-paced and just a heck of a lot of fun. There are twists, there are surprises, there are Oh, I hoped that would happens, and there are Oh, my, s/he couldn’t really haves.

However, this is an erotic novel, not just a novel, and so the sex counts. That is Good Point Number Four. Did I mention these characters have a lot of sex? Because they have a lot of sex. However, it’s different every time—by which I mean both that the characters go for different positions and locations every time, and that the author describes it differently every time; sometimes in graphic detail and then sometimes just by ending a chapter with something as simple as She took his hand again. They have sex predominantly with each other, but sometimes a friend joins the two—some of my favorite scenes. The side characters are quirky but believable, and I’d call the actual sex scenes among them ‘quirky but believable’ as well. Third partners have their own lives and personalities and motivations, and aren’t just tossed in there to get a threeway into the book.

Finally, I liked the rocking horse theme—which shows up in various and sometimes surprising ways throughout the book. And yes, there are socks, too.

These are some of my favorite socks, by the way, that I wore while reading this book:

Clearly, I got the hard copy version, but it’s available as an e-book too. In fact, it’s available in so many ways in so many places that I’m going to let the author’s website explain it all to you.

3 Responses to “Review of Rock My Socks Off”

I hope I don’t have to pick my favorite thing about this review, Shar–because, not surprisingly, I love it from start to finish. Thank you so much for your detailed, eloquent book-appreciation, and all your witty remarks. Love the socks, too!

Yes, this name shows up in various spellings all over the place, especially in the Middle East. Scheherezade seems to be the most common spelling in the West; Sharazade is an older spelling of that. She’s the lady of 1001 Nights, who kept her head (literally) with her story-telling abilities.